Comment Triple IPA, possibly a new style?

Beer Trader

There are a lot of beers labeled as a Triple IPA from the breweries but they are still categorized under the Double IPA category on here, RateBeer, and Untappd. Should Triple IPA be a new style or is it just a way for the breweries to indicate Double IPAs with higher abv?

I agree, at what point is it just marketing? How hoppy can a beer really get and retain drinkability. I tried the hop dam and it was borderline ridiculous. Whats next, a stout you have to serve with a spoon to get it out of the glass?

I had a triple IPA at Renegade Brewery in Denver, CO. It was a good beer. Hoppy, strong malt backbone, bold, full body. But I can't say it was anything bigger and bolder than any double or Imperial IPA I've ever had. It was around 9% ABV, I believe. The name seemed kind of gimmicky, I guess. Unless there's something in the brewing process that differentiates a triple versus a double IPA, I generally think it's a marketing shtick. Eventually we'll have an octuple IPA.

Beer Trader

I agree, at what point is it just marketing? How hoppy can a beer really get and retain drinkability. I tried the hop dam and it was borderline ridiculous. Whats next, a stout you have to serve with a spoon to get it out of the glass?

Beer Trader

I'm not sure what barleywines some of you folks are drinking, but I can't quite see how any double or triple IPAs would be classified as barleywines. I would hope people (at least on BA) could tell the difference even in a blind tasting. If anything, the Simtra (one of the self-prolaimed triple IPAs) to me seems to lean a bit toward an imperial red with its malt profile...

I understand the debate, but shouldn't the brewers be consulted on this as well? Don't we trust the brewmasters of our favorite beers to know what they would like to classify their beers as? After all, isn't that really the core of making "craft" beer, discovering and inventing new styles, new ways to brew, different ingredients in ways that haven't been thought of before? I'm sure the homebrewers would understand this to a certain degree.

I understand the debate, but shouldn't the brewers be consulted on this as well? Don't we trust the brewmasters of our favorite beers to know what they would like to classify their beers as? After all, isn't that really the core of making "craft" beer, discovering and inventing new styles, new ways to brew, different ingredients in ways that haven't been thought of before? I'm sure the homebrewers would understand this to a certain degree.

I think we should just have IPA and Imperial IPAs. Look at the abv, look at the IBUs, just taste it.

I had a Sucks next to a Flower Power last night. FP is a 7.5% "IPA" and Sucks is a 7.85% IIPA. The splitting of hairs.

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I've pretty much stopped paying attention to whether something is considered an IPA or DIPA and just look at the ABV. 8% tends to be the dividing line for most, but of course there's plenty of examples like Sucks that are under 8. IBUs are a nice number to look at too but how different will a 55 IBU IPA be versus a 62 IBU DIPA? Your palate won't really know the difference, especially with so many being loaded up with late-addition hops and dry hops that barely contribute to the IBUs.

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I'm not sure what barleywines some of you folks are drinking, but I can't quite see how any double or triple IPAs would be classified as barleywines. I would hope people (at least on BA) could tell the difference even in a blind tasting. If anything, the Simtra (one of the self-prolaimed triple IPAs) to me seems to lean a bit toward an imperial red with its malt profile...

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It can be tricky to distinguish some 'triple' IPAs from aggressively hopped American Barleywines. Boneyards sends their Notorious Triple IPA to the Toronado barleywine festival every year.

Triple IPA is a bit of misnomer, as generally these beers have recipes that contain roughly 2x malt as regular IPAs. Double Crooked Tree would be the textbook example. There are probably only a handful of 'true' Triple IPAs in the literal sense: Super Juice, 120 Minute, So Double It's Triple, etc.

You could certainly make the case that there are distinct classes of IIPA/DIPA:

Keep in mind these examples were thought up on the fly, so some may straddle the boundaries a bit. I think one category on BA is sufficient anyway, as there's a pretty wide range of beers in the other categories (is it really fair to lump barrel-aged stouts, coffee stouts, and plain old imperial stouts in the same category?). I've always been a fan of a tag based sorting system that lets you increase granularity if you want rather than introducing umpteen new 'official styles' like White IPA, Black Saison, Belgian Stout, Rice Ale, IPL, etc.

I think we should just have IPA and Imperial IPAs. Look at the abv, look at the IBUs, just taste it.

I had a Sucks next to a Flower Power last night. FP is a 7.5% "IPA" and Sucks is a 7.85% IIPA. The splitting of hairs.

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Agreed, there is a blurry line already, I don't think we need to blur if further. If a brewery wants to differentiate itself by calling their beer a triple IPA, I'm fine with that (especially if they have a IPA and an IIPA already, e.g. Blind Pig, PtE and PtY).

I understand the debate, but shouldn't the brewers be consulted on this as well? Don't we trust the brewmasters of our favorite beers to know what they would like to classify their beers as? After all, isn't that really the core of making "craft" beer, discovering and inventing new styles, new ways to brew, different ingredients in ways that haven't been thought of before? I'm sure the homebrewers would understand this to a certain degree.

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Yes, but simply adding more fermentables and more hops isn't inventing a new style. Nor is it particularly creative. And in my opinion, ought not to be encouraged.

I believe these Triple IPA's already fit under the category of "Imperial IPAs." BA lists the style as "American Double/Imperial IPA" and that seems to work pretty good.

A seperate listing would definitely be redundant and confusing.

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Though it's fine for Belgium to have styles of ale designated Single, Dubbel, Trippel? Why not American IPA's? If you're rounding 2nd, might as well leg it our for 3 bases! Younger, Double Crooked Tree, Devil Dancer, etc are definitely (in my mind anyway) above D-IPA standards. And if you have the separate category, more brewers will brew that style in years to come. So in the end--we as the consumers win big! Well...if you're a hophead anyway. Cheers!

Beer Trader

In my opinion, attempts at a Triple IPA have been pretty unsuccessful. The 2 beers that I have consumed that I would consider falling under this category are 120 Minute and Devil Dancer. To me, the bitter and alcohol are just too big and the balance is all out of whack, like trying to balance elephants on a teeter totter. Are brewers trying to one-up each other?

Though it's fine for Belgium to have styles of ale designated Single, Dubbel, Trippel? Why not American IPA's? If you're rounding 2nd, might as well leg it our for 3 bases! Younger, Double Crooked Tree, Devil Dancer, etc are definitely (in my mind anyway) above D-IPA standards. And if you have the separate category, more brewers will brew that style in years to come. So in the end--we as the consumers win big! Well...if you're a hophead anyway. Cheers!

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But singles, dubbels, and tripels are pretty damn different from each other, so much so that they easily constitute separate styles. I probably couldn't tell the difference between a "true" triple IPA and a thoroughly unbalanced DIPA (kinda like how it's hard to differentiate highly-hopped pale ales like Daisy Cutter and Zombie Dust from "true" IPAs).

The way I see it, call the beer whatever you want, so long as I have some idea of what I'm about to drink.

Beer Trader

No need for a "triple IPA" designation IMO. As others already stated, "imperial IPA" pretty much covers anywhere you want to go once you get into the higher abv's and ibu's of this style. The only reason to call something a "triple ipa" is marketing (not that that's inherently a bad thing).

Beer Trader

I agree, at what point is it just marketing? How hoppy can a beer really get and retain drinkability. I tried the hop dam and it was borderline ridiculous. Whats next, a stout you have to serve with a spoon to get it out of the glass?

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At every point it is just marketing, they are all hoppy pale ales, the rest is marketing and competition entry categories.